Tag Archives: W.B. Yeats

“Is there any virtue, for literature, for poetry, in the simple continuity of a tradition? I believe there is not.” — Thomas Kinsella

Posted on May 4, 2024 by sheila

The Dolmen Press, operated out of Dublin, was founded in 1951 by Liam Miller, and played a crucial part in the development of Irish poetry in the mid-20th century. It was a strictly nationalist operation; before The Dolmen Press, poets … Continue reading →

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Rejoyce. It’s Bloomsday.

Posted on June 16, 2023 by sheila

Some men send flowers to commemorate an anniversary. James Joyce wrote Ulysses. Overachiever. On June 15, 1904, young James Joyce sent a note to Nora Barnacle, who was a waitress at Finn’s Hotel. Barnacle (what an apt name) was a … Continue reading →

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It’s Ezra Pound’s Birthday: “Do not retell in mediocre verse what has already been done in good prose.”

Posted on October 30, 2021 by sheila

And give up verse, my boy, There’s nothing in it. — Ezra Pound I grew up hearing stories of Ezra Pound. Not the stories of his fascism or his relaxing time in a cage in Italy, or being indicted for … Continue reading →

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“My subject is War, and the pity of War. The Poetry is in the pity.” — WWI poet Wilfred Owen

Posted on March 18, 2021 by sheila

Wilfred Owen, one of the best “war poets” of World War I, was born on this day in 1893. He was killed in battle in 1918, just seven days before the Armistice. He was 25 years old. His poetry was … Continue reading →

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“Fear adjective; they bleed nouns. Hate the passive.” — poet Basil Bunting

Posted on March 1, 2021 by sheila

It’s his birthday today. By all accounts, including his own, Basil Bunting was some kind of genius prodigy. Along with everything else, he was also Iran correspondent for the London Times for a bit, and was very interested in Persia … Continue reading →

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Recommended: Biographies

Posted on May 1, 2020 by sheila

For starters: My recommended Fiction books My recommended Non-Fiction books BIOGRAPHIES: American Sphinx: The Character of Thomas Jefferson, by Joseph Ellis I’ve written a lot about Joseph Ellis’ work here. While I love David McCullough’s work so much, Ellis is … Continue reading →

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“That is no country for old men.” Happy Birthday, W.B. Yeats

Posted on June 13, 2015 by sheila

My parents had Clancy Brothers at Carnegie Hall on vinyl, and we listened to it constantly. It was the background of my childhood. I memorized “O’Driscoll Host of the Air” (having no idea it was by William Butler Yeats) probably … Continue reading →

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The Books: Finders Keepers: Selected Prose 1971-2001: ‘Yeats as an Example?,’ by Seamus Heaney

Posted on March 5, 2015 by sheila

On the essays shelf (yes, there are still more books to excerpt in my vast library. I can’t seem to stop this excerpts-from-my-library project. I started it in 2006!) NEXT BOOK: Seamus Heaney’s Finders Keepers: Selected Prose 1971-2001. The Irish … Continue reading →

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Happy Birthday, Seán O’Casey

Posted on March 30, 2012 by sheila

Irish playwright Seán O’Casey was born on this day, in 1880. He was the first major Irish playwright to deal with slum life and the reality of the Dublin poor. There is a wonderful anecdote about O’Casey from his colleague … Continue reading →

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Happy Birthday to the “Pilgrim Soul”, Maud Gonne

Posted on December 20, 2011 by sheila

Maud Gonne, Irish revolutionary, feminist, radical, and lifelong poetic muse of William Butler Yeats, was born on this day in history in 1865. She married John MacBride (after a couple of notorious affairs and illegitimate children). John MacBride was an … Continue reading →

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